


of departure

by Lyre (Lyrecho)



Series: ring a bell [2]
Category: Tales of Vesperia, Xenoblade Chronicles 2 (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Xenoblade Chronicles 2 Fusion, But He Doesn't Really Do Anything, Gen, Lorebuilding, Oneshot, Repede Is Here, Sad Aegis Estelle, So Putting Him In The Character Tags Feels Disingenuous
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-15
Updated: 2020-09-15
Packaged: 2021-03-06 15:00:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,309
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26470753
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lyrecho/pseuds/Lyre
Summary: When rumours start swirling of a flesheater being keptaliveup in the Noble Quarter,somethinghas to be done.Yuri, who knows his way around the Noble Quarter like the back of his hand, volunteers as tribute.(He doesn't end up finding the rumoured flesheater -- but hey, the Aegis is just as good, right?)|Tumblr||Twitter|
Relationships: Estellise Sidos Heurassein & Yuri Lowell
Series: ring a bell [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1923445
Comments: 7
Kudos: 23





	of departure

**Author's Note:**

> this au DOES have an overarching plot but fr i'm just vibing with writing the scenes in whatever order as inspo strikes me so chronologically posting will be all over the place, please enjoy the ride anyway
> 
> please also join me in having feelings about sad aegis estelle, we fucked her up in this au, and i wanted it noted down that at least half of her fuckor is aera's fault pretty much exclusively!! thank you aer
> 
> now. what's mentioned in the summary is not mentioned in the story proper because i totally skipped the initial part of the game (i will get back to it) but yes this time yuri's pre estelle-napping shenanigans have nothing to do with a blastia!! blastia in this au DO exist but are probably rarer than drivers and blades both...hmm. i wonder why? :3c

The Aegis sure is...something.

Cloaked in white and gold from throat to toe, her bright pink core crystal adorned by a ring of rubies on the back of her left hand, sweet smile on her face, Estellise is the very image of the elegant, endlessly kind Holy Blade all believe her to be.

That image is kind of ruined, though, by the fact that the Aegis is the most horrifying blade Yuri has ever met.

His first hint that something isn’t quite right with her is this: when she’s stressing over Flynn not being around to take up her resonance in order to aid her in her escape, Yuri speaks without thinking, and offers himself up as an interim driver. He doesn’t really  _ want _ to be an Aegis Driver, and he doesn’t really  _ want _ to go on a journey that will have him running into Flynn once more at the end of it, but after years of living in the Lower Quarter, Yuri is familiar with that blade-specific brand of panic in Estellise’s eyes, and it strikes at something in his heart.

There’s also the fact that her current driver is the Commandant, and man, fuck that guy.

Estellise tilts her head, real cute, and asks how he can possibly drive her, considering he’s a blade himself, and Yuri just squints at her before saying “I’m a flesheater?”

Estellise’s eyes light up, and her hands clap together. “Oh! A flesheater, right.” Her smile is kind. “I’ve never met one, before.”

That’s --  _ what? _

While Yuri is still processing that, Estellise takes his hands in hers and a rush of aer circulates between them. He can feel the administrative role of Aegis Driver settle against his core -- he blinks, and wonders if that’s what it feels like for the humans who have resonated with her, over the ages.

And then they’re running, and escaping, and there’s no time for questions, but her words won’t leave his mind. So, the moment they’re out of Zaphias, and have a second to catch their breath, he turns to her, and says: “What do you mean, you’ve never met a flesheater before? You  _ fought _ in the war?” By all accounts, the whole reason the war had ended in the first place had been because of her. Before Dahngrest, there’d been another settlement for flesheaters, and Estellise had reduced it to bedrock in one strike. Sure, that had been literally centuries ago -- but the Aegis does not forget.

And beyond just that ancient war -- Yuri has  _ seen _ Estellise, dressed pretty for the public, the only time her aerlines were ever on display, at flesheater executions, standing stoic and unreadable by her driver’s side as he brought down judgement on whatever unlucky bastards they’d dragged in before they could get to Dahngrest.

Estellise blinks, polite befuddlement crossing her face, and then she laughs. Yuri flinches.

“Oh, that,” she says. “I’m actually pretty new, you know? I’ve lasted a bit over a year this time, which is a new record for me!”

“I -- what?”

Estellise’s smile doesn’t change, but something in her eyes turns  _ brittle. _ “I don’t remember the war,” she says. “I don’t remember anything at all, past a year ago.”

“But the Aegis doesn’t forget,” Yuri says helplessly. 

Estellise looks away from him. “Not naturally, no,” she agrees quietly. Then she looks back up, and the smile is back on her face, and Yuri could almost believe she hadn’t just confessed to him that Zaphias has spent years systematically reformatting their crown jewel over and over and over again -- maybe even  _ hundreds _ of years, if this is something that’s been going on since before Alexei took up her resonance. 

“What the  _ fuck,” _ he says, low and apalled, and Estellise fucking  _ giggles. _

“Come on, Yuri,” she says. “Oh! And you too, Repede -- weren’t we going to Flynn?”

_ Right. Flynn. _

Suddenly, Yuri’s nausea has a whole new dimension to it.

Years ago, before everything had gone to shit, and Flynn had still been the one solid thing in his life Yuri was one hundred percent sure of, the Commandant had started calling Flynn up to the palace. Everyone had known why -- in Zaphias, when it came to the Aegis, rather than letting her return to her core at the end of the natural lifespan of each of her drivers, they instead picked up a promising young driver from the military ranks and raised them up to be the next Aegis Driver, and had the Aegis transfer admin rights to them in a public, over the top ceremony.

It had been pretty obvious to Yuri that these urgent calls up to the palace were little more than glorified playdates between the Aegis and his driver as they attempted to court each other -- sure, Alexei was still fairly young, and would likely not lose his position or his life for quite some time, but it’s always nice to have a backup groomed and ready, just in case.

Now, though...instead of remembering the pride he’d felt, for Flynn being chosen for such an honour, or the slight envy that had stirred to life at the thought of a second, much more powerful blade being brought into their dynamic, their resonance --

\-- Yuri remembers Flynn’s moods after those playdates.

He’d always come home moody, and quiet. Reflective. Yuri  _ had _ thought it had simply been that loyal knight schtick of his playing up as the weight of his future duty had been impressed upon him, each time…

But now, he wonders. Had each of those meetings -- instead of Flynn and the Aegis furthering their relationship, like Yuri had thought...had that been a reintroduction, each time? Estellise introducing herself to Flynn, each time, as if it had been the first?

That...that has to be it. If keeping her memories for just a little over a  _ year _ this time is a ‘new record,’ then…

Then Flynn has known about this, for quite some time. For longer, even, than Yuri has been a flesheater. And he never told him.

He grits his teeth. Still, this isn’t the time to be angry -- and Estellise had smiled, when she’d spoken of Flynn. That’s something Yuri is familiar with, even after their estrangement, and he doesn’t think she’d be smiling over Flynn if the year and some change she has to her name held bad memories of him.

He sighs. “Come on, Estelle,” he says, and the nickname falls so easily from his lips that he doesn’t realise he’s said anything weird until behind him, the Aegis  _ freezes. _ “If we’re going to catch up with Flynn, we’d better get mov -- Estelle?”

Eyes shiny and suspiciously bright, the Aegis blinks at him rapidly. “Estelle?”

“What, you don’t like it? I mean, I could stick with Estellise, but it  _ is _ kind of a mouthful --”

She shakes her head, all frantic, and rushes forward to grab his hand -- her left meets his right and he can  _ feel _ her core crystal all but buzzing against his own, only separated by an inch or so of flesh. It’s distracting, but Yuri shoves it out of his mind when the Aegis smiles up at him, brilliant and bright like the light her aer tastes of, and it is, he thinks, the first real smile from her he’s ever seen.

“Estelle,” she repeats. “I love it. I  _ love _ it.”

He grins back at her. “Well then, Estelle,” he says, and offers her his arm, “are you ready to journey forth?”

She takes his arm in her own, and for just a second, leans into him. “Lead the way,” she says softly, and for a minute, it’s easy to forget that this is the  _ Aegis, _ the most powerful blade in the world, the crown jewel of Zaphias, and he’s a flesheater stealing her away.

They leave Zaphias behind them.

Estelle doesn’t look back once.


End file.
